Trailblazer (rocket)
Trailblazer was an American series of rockets used between 1959 and 1973 for research on atmospheric reentry. Both vehicles were tested at the Wallops Flight Facility on Wallops Island, Accomack County, Virginia and were located under the NASA Langley program.
Trailblazer 1
Trailblazer 1 was first launched on March 3, 1959, and was retired in 1963. The vehicle had six stages: TX-77, M-6, M5E1, Cygnus 5, T-40, and T-55. Its first three stages took the upper stage package to an apogee, either 260 km/162 mi or 280 km/170 mi, when the upper stages fired in unison, pushing the payload back into Earth's atmosphere at sizable reentry speeds. In each test, a different material was used, and ground workers could observe the spectral density and luminance of the artificial "meteorites" that had been created. On the 1G mission, a more realistic artificial meteorite was used as the payload, which was launched into the atmosphere with a reentry speed of 6 km/s by a "seventh stage", used after the sixth stage had been depleted. Thus, a reference was provided for the luminance of the trails of the artificial meteorites resulting from later tests.
Trailblazer 2
Trailblazer 2 was first launched on December 14, 1961, and was retired in 1973. Trailblazer 2 sent objects back into the atmosphere much in the same way Trailblazer 1 did, however it was much larger and stronger than Trailblazer 1. Also, due to the sheer size of it, Trailblazer 2 could hold instruments for measuring and sending data to the ground, greatly enhancing its utility to researchers. Trailblazer 2's apogee was around 300 km/180 mi, and its payload was around 18 kg. Its stages were Altair 1, Cygnus 15, TX-77, 1.5KS35000, and Castor 1. Like Trailblazer 1, Trailblazer 2 carried out artificial meteorite experiments. It used 0.7-0.8 g steel balls that were launched at 6.1 km/s.